Bleeding Edge Wiki:Manual of Style
This Manual of Style outlines a standard of clean, consistent formatting for articles on this wiki. These guidelines will never be unerringly perfect for every situation. However, please try your best to keep to the advice outlined in this policy to maintain consistency and so that others may use your edits as an example when creating and editing their own articles. Article topics This wiki is centered on the Bleeding Edge. Therefore, all articles must be on-topic and within this scope. But there are many topics within the scope of the game for which articles may be written. Here at Bleeding Edge Wiki, we aim to include all major topics within this scope. This means that there should be articles for all games, characters, weapons, vehicles, maps and levels. This list is not inclusive and can be enlarged to include any topic deemed to be significant and notable. Spam, or articles purely created for the purpose of vandalism, should be deleted, as soon as possible. This can be done by informing an admin of the situation. However, if you think an otherwise-legitimate page should be deleted for another reason, for example, if you feel it is not notable, or outside the Wiki's scope, use our deletion template as directed on the template itself to categorize it here. You can expand your reasons or challenge the deletion as the template directs, on the talk page. If nobody challenges, an admin will delete it. If somebody objects, an agreement should be made regarding the page's future. In cases where deletion is justified, useful content should be merged into another article. Appropriatenaming All pages, including those for weapons, vehicles and maps, should be named as they are in the game, as this is likely to be the most searched for pagename. Character articles should also be named as they are in the game, using only their name. A pagename should never include a character's rank or honorific. Any potential variations on pagenames, such as real-life weapon/vehicle names, or other variations of a given weapon, should be redirected to the main article. Subjects which appear in multiple games under different names should use the most prevalent name as the article's pagename. As per precedent, if an article is made up of a number of different variants, then the most general name should be used. Pagenames should only be capitalized under a few circumstances. If the subject is a work -- a book, a game, show, play, or movie, etc -- the pagename should be capitalized to reflect this, following English rules for capitalization of titles. In any case where the in-game name is capitalized, its article pagename should follow suit (assuming the pagename isn't of the generalized type as described in the previous paragraph). All other pagenames should be decapitalized. Merging If you think a page should be moved, renamed or merged into another, type at the top of the page to be moved, or in the case of a merge, both relevant pages. If nobody challenges, you can move/merge the page. If somebody objects, an agreement should be made regarding a move/merger. When moving, the automatic redirect should be kept. Any pages that are merged should be redirected to the new article Images When uploading pictures, the only naming guideline is that they name of the picture should be tangibly related to the picture's subject. For example, if you took a picture, do not upload it under a name like 0001.jpg, use something more descriptive. Article Layout One of the most important parts of wiki editing is how to structure an article. The structure is a powerful thing: it dictates what information the reader reads and when he or she reads it. It can influence what people contribute, where it goes, and how it might be written. Structure has the power to inform or confuse the same way good or bad writing does. Keep a well structured article, and you're more likely to have a high quality one. Organize sections in an article in a hierarchical structure like you would an outline. Keep it logical, but feel free to forsake strict logic for readability. Wherever possible, try to have an introduction for each section. Just like the article as a whole, the section should start with an introduction and then have its subsections below it. Try using a shallow structure rather than a deep one. Too many nested sections usually leads to a confusing or unreadable article. Above all, keep your layout consistent. Don't throw your reader a curve ball too often. The following sections will offer some good advice on keeping your articles clean, consistent, and clear. Lead Section Unless an article is very short, it should start with an introductory lead section, before the first subheading. The lead should not have its own header. It should be between one or two paragraphs long, and should be written in a clear and accessible style so that the reader is encouraged to read the rest of the article. The lead should introduce the subject, outlining any alternative names and it's importance in the game, before moving on to a brief overview of the subject, such as, where appropriate, where the subject is manufactured, by whom it is used, and it's specifications. This section is the only part of an article that should refer to real-life details - potentially including a real-life image. All other sections and media should refer only to in-game details. The title should be the subject of the first sentence of the article. The first time the article mentions the title, put it in bold. Avoid other uses of bold in the first sentence, except for alternative titles for the subject. Table of Contents A table of contents will automatically appear in articles with a minimum of four headings (unless forced by the below options). By default this will be left-aligned above the first section heading. The below options are only available in source mode editing: * To the force a table of contents to appear, type: __TOC__ (contents will appear where this line is typed) * To completely remove the table of contents from a page, type: Section Headings Use level 2 headings for main headings. Do not use a level 1 heading as this creates a heading the same size as the page title. For subsequent, sub-headings, use progressively larger level headings, first 3, then 4 Always keep headings short and simple. Headings are guidelines to your page's structure and should inform the reader rather than confuse. To keep it short, avoid unnecessary words or redundancy in headings, i.e. avoid a, an, and the, pronouns, repeating the article title, and so on. Also, try to avoid giving identical titles to different sections, as this complicates the 'jump to' function in the contents. Game details should be added under separate level 2 headings for each relevant game. Infoboxes should be used where applicable. Headings should be arranged in a sensible order, such that the article flows coherently. Typically, this means listing sections by game in chronological order, or in the chronological order of the events described. Trivia can be included as a separate level 2 heading, after all other content but before any other sections. Trivia should be bullet pointed. Images and Videos Images and videos make an article memorable and good looking. They can speak where words fail. At the same time, misplaced or untidy images or videos can detract from an article. When choosing images or videos, keep in mind placement, size, and appropriateness. Let images and videos flow with the text instead of break it up. Real-life images are only permitted in the lead section. All other images should be in-game or game relevant. All such media, except for those in an infobox, should use the thumbnail option. Infobox images should be ideally set to 250px wide. All other media should typically be 100 to 250px wide. When an article has too many images, or can be improved by having more, and having in-line images would detract from the readability of the article, the use of a gallery section is encouraged. Galleries are typically placed at the end of each sub-heading. If an entire article only relates to one item in one game, you may consider a level-2 headed gallery at the end of the article instead. Wikia has the capacity to host .ogg and .ogv sound and video files. However, these do not work for all users, so their use is deprecated and YouTube videos are preferred. Where there are some of these files on the wiki, they should gradually be replaced with YouTube videos and phased out. YouTube videos may be embedded in text, as thumbnails, but may also be placed in video galleries. Due to the size of video galleries, these should only be placed at the end of an article, not within sub-sections. Graphics should always have captions, unless they are self-explanatory - for example, in an infobox. The text of captions should not be specially formatted (with italics, for example), except in ways that would apply if it occurred in the main text. Tables Tables should use a 'class' design when possible, and should include as little 'fancy' formatting as possible. Tables can also be made sortable by adding a 'sortable' class. 'Alt' class is discouraged. Quotations Quotations are discouraged. When quotations are included, they should use this template. The following guidelines should help with choosing an appropriate quote. *'Quotes should be short' - no longer than two or three sentences long. Any longer and it would need to be a block quotation. *'Quotes should be indicative of the nature of the subject' - the quote should never be a generic quote (e.g., "I'm reloading!" on a character page). It should be poignant, and shed light on the intrinsic qualities of the subject at hand. *'Profanity should be avoided' - unless profanity is intrinsic to the subject, the quote should have no profanity. However, this wiki does not practice censorship, and so if a quote does have profanity, it should be left intact. End sections References should be listed using the reflist template. Reference lists should always be located below any content, but above any other headings. The template will automatically generate a list of references with appropriate names and links. However, if there are no references on the page (references are indicated in sourcemode using the html tag, and display on the published page in the format 1), any such heading, and its associate template, should be removed completely. The last sections, where applicable, should be 'See also' (for internal links) followed by 'External links' (for external links), both under level 2 headings. Use bullets to list links. Categories No page - whether article, project page, template or category itself - should ever be uncategorized. All relevant categories should be added to the end of articles, arranged, where applicable. Article-containing categories should never contain pages from outside the mainspace, and vice versa. The exception to this are categories themselves, which may be categorized in article-only categories in the interests of creating a sub-category. Subpages Subpages are useful. For extremely long pages, they can be called like templates to reduce the overall size of the page, which can improve loading and editing times. However, a few rules should be applied to subpages: *'Subpages are not needed for moderate-length pages': An article that has only three or four sections doesn't need a series of subpages for itself. Only articles with six plus sections (which are all of standard length) should be considered for this treatment. *'Subpages should have no categories': Subpages are extensions of the main page to which they are attached, and as such shouldn't be categorized the way the normal page is -- instead, all categories should be applied to the subpage's parent page. *'Subpages should not have subpages of their own': Self-explanatory. For any given subpage, it should not have any subpages of its own -- at that point, it's no longer considered a subpage. Grammar and Formatting Grammar is a writer's toolbox. You can't build good sentences without knowing how to use your tools. Since a wiki article must be as clear as possible for all the people reading it, editors must keep close to correct grammar standards to ensure clear communication. As normally, only capitalize the start of sentences and then proper nouns thereafter. Ranks start with a capital letter when used as a title (followed by a name), but not when used generically. Where the subject of another article is referred to, the other article should be linked to. However, this should only be done on the first mention. They should not be overlinked in quick succession on a given page, although a link at the top of the page and another toward the end of a lengthy article would be appropriate. For example: Writing We now come to the meat of an article: the words themselves. When you are editing wikis, you must be both academic and artistic. You have to be accurate, but you also have to be interesting. Neither one can dominate; you must skillfully balance both. *'Keep your writing concise.' Don't use two words where one will do. Keeping your writing simple will make it easy to understand and easy to expand on. Use complete sentences whenever possible. *'Check your spelling and grammar.' Do not use 'u' in place of 'you' or '2' in place of 'to'. Write the way you would for a class paper or a newspaper article. American English is the preferred spelling. *'Keep all of the topics you cover within the scope of the article.' What that means is, you don't need to give a detailed history of humans on a page about Winston Churchill. Consider the article's title as your point of origin and write from that perspective. Make use of the wiki's ability to link to more detailed articles or external sources for more information. *'Write from an impersonal perspective.' Do not use 'I'. Completely avoid drawing attention to the author (yourself). Do not use the impersonal 'you', either, which refers to the reader or player. When writing tips, say 'the player should' instead of 'you should'. *'Maintain article neutrality.' All pages should be from a neutral point of view. Avoid pointless adjectives that insert personal bias into an article and do not definitively say that something such as a weapon is relatively good or bad unless it can be statistically proven. *'Don't make up words.' English is one of the world's most comprehensive languages. There is bound to be a word to describe your needs. Remember, no wikian is Shakespeare. If stuck, use the Wiktionary. M